1. Oral histories of Jewish immigrants to Pittsburgh
WHY THEY CAME
Oral histories of Jewish immigrants to Pittsburgh
“Our synagogue was in a room with the windows blacked out. We were afraid to speak Yiddish on the streets. We often had to hide from people who came to persecute the Jews.”
“During the pogrom (organized government persecution of the Jews) in Vitebsk (Russia) around 1905, my collarbone was broken and the back of my head still bears the scar of a dagger.”
“I still have a scar on my thigh where a Russian soldier struck me with his sword. I was three years old and my mother tried to protect me with her body, but he got to me. It did not seem reasonable for me to serve the Czar in the Army.”
Why they came

2. Oral histories of Italian immigrants
WHY THEY CAME
Oral histories of Italian immigrants
“The main reason was bread. There was always bread in America.”
“Life in America was better. There was always work in America.”
“I never went to an American school, but I insisted that my children attend university in the United States where they had more chance.”
“I have progressed; I have lived well. I have been able to send my children to good schools so that today they hold positions of respect. My brother who stayed here in Italy cannot say that.”
Why they came

3. Chart: Rise of Immigrants
OLD VS NEW IMMIGRATION
1,593,000
181,1880
2,753,00
926,000
1,110,000
1,847,000
1,069,000
5,780,000
540,000
2,928,000
Chart: Rise of Immigrants

6. OLD VS NEW RELIGION BIRTHPLACE REASONS DESTINATION OCCUPATION
Protestant Catholic and Jewish
North/Western Southern/Eastern Europe Europe
Both escaping poverty, religious and political persecution
Moved to farms Moved to cities in the in the Midwest Northeast
Became farmers Unskilled workers
Old vs New Immigrants

7. American Protective Association
Americans formed groups to opposed the “immigrant threat”
Supported laws to restrict certain groups of immigrants.
Immigrant groups: Chinese, Central and Southern Europeans.
Why did Old Immigrants resent New Immigrants.
“inferior stocks”
Plot by European governments to unload their prisoners and mentally ill.
Chinese worked for 5 years and left the U.S. with U.S. money
Labor Unions hated immigrants because employers would hire “scab” labor to replace workers if they had a “Labor Strike”
US Govt. restricts immigration with the following:
Chinese Exclusion Act and Ellis Island

8. Anti-immigrants quote

10. American Citizens: What weight can my vote have against this flood of ignorance, stupidity and fraud?

11. Old Immigrants resented the New Immigrants.
New Immigrants came to this country for the same reasons as the Old Immigrants.
Cartoon: Immigration

12. IMMIGRATION
Immigrants being used

13. Cleveland quote on Immigration

14. CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT
Resentment and discrimination against the Chinese.
First law to restrict immigration.
Taking away jobs from Nativists
Chinese Exclusion Act 1

16. CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT
President Hayes vetoed this act and Congress would override it.
He would not be re-elected.
Chinese immigration would be outlawed until the 1920’s.
Chinese Exclusion Act 2

17. Ellis Island was built in 1892 as the 1st “Immigration Center”
Later, closed in the 1940s
Today it is a museum.
The goal was to “screen” immigrants coming from Europe.
Immigrants took physical examinations and were held at Ellis Island before they were released to the US mainland.

22. Theme: The Coming of America
GILDED AGE, 1870 to 1900
Phrase penned by Mark Twain as satire for the way America had become. It revealed the “best and worst” of America.
The Gilded Age suggests that there was a glittering layer of prosperity that covered the poverty and corruption that existed in much of society.
Theme: The Coming of America
It needed reform.

23. GILDED AGE, 1870 to 1900
The wealthy showed off their wealth and were snobbish and stuck up…….Ostentatious wealth or conspicuous consumption
Time of corruption, scandals in local, state and national government.
President Grant’s scandals
Election of 1876
William Boss Tweed
President Garfield’s assassination

24. CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION
OSTENTATIOUS WEALTH
                                                                                 
CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION

26. Two Different Worlds 1 TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS
The wealthy lived extravagant lifestyles and considered themselves elitists.
The common people resented their snobbish attitudes and wealth. There was a caste system in the U.S.
millionaires ,800
1900, 90% of wealth, controlled by 10% of population.
Two Different Worlds 1

27. The Emergence of Political Machines
Organized group that controls city political party
• Give services to voters, businesses for political, financial support
• After Civil War, machines gain control of major cities
• Machine organization: precinct captains, ward bosses, city boss

28. The Role of the Political Boss
POLITICAL MACHINES
The Role of the Political Boss
May serve as mayor he:
controls city jobs, business licenses
influenced courts, municipal agencies
arranged building projects community services
•Bosses paid by businesses, get voters’ loyalty, extend influence
Immigrants and the Machine
Many captains, bosses 1st or 2nd generation Americans
Machines help immigrants with naturalization, jobs, housing
Election Fraud and Graft
•Machines use electoral fraud to win elections
•Graft—illegal use of political influence for personal gain
•Machines take kickbacks, bribes to allow legal, illegal activities

29. WILLIAM BOSS TWEED Corrupt political leader put New York City in debt
Political boss
1851 elected to city council
1852 served in Congress
Kept Democratic Party in power in NYC called Tammany Hall
Formed the Tweed Ring
Bought votes, encouraged corruption, controlled NYC politics

30. Received large fees for interests (*kickbacks) from the Erie Railroad
WILLIAM BOSS TWEED
Received large fees for interests (*kickbacks) from the Erie Railroad
Tweed Ring milked the city with false leases, padded bills, false vouchers, unnecessary repairs and over-priced goods
*Return of a portion of the money received in a sale or contract often illegal and corrupt in return for special favors.

31. WILLIAM BOSS TWEED
Exposed for his corruption by cartoonist and editor, Thomas Nast
Tweed Ring fell and Tweed convicted of embezzlement
Later Tweed was arrested on a civil charge and jailed in NYC, later died there

32. POPULATION GROWTH 1870 1900 40 million population
75% lived in rural areas
1900
76 million population
60% lived in rural areas

33. In 1860 no American city could boast a million inhabitants.
CITIES
In 1860 no American city could boast a million inhabitants.
1890, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia had spurted past the million mark.
Cities

34. Cities grew rapidly Terrible Conditions GROWTH OF URBANIZATION
near raw materials
industrial areas
transportation routes.
Opportunities in the job market.
Terrible Conditions
Poor sanitary and living conditions
Tenement apartments
Sweathouses

35. Immigrants Settle in Cities
URBAN OPPORTUNITIES
Immigrants Settle in Cities
Industrialization leads to urbanization, or growth of cities
Most immigrants settle in cities; get cheap housing, factory jobs
Americanization—assimilate people into main culture
Schools, voluntary groups teach citizenship skills
English, American history, cooking, etiquette
Ethnic communities provide social support

36. Migration from Country to City
URBAN OPPORTUNITIES
Migration from Country to City
Farm technology decreases need for laborers; people move to cities
Many African Americans in South lose their livelihood
1890–1910, move to cities in North, West to escape racial violence
Find segregation, discrimination in North too
Competition for jobs between blacks, white immigrants causes tension

37. CHANGE IN LABOR FORCE
Crop prices decrease, new machinery and corrupt railroads forced many farmers to look for new jobs.

38. Housing Transportation
URBAN PROBLEMS
Housing
Working-class families live in houses on outskirts or boardinghouses
Later, row houses built for single families
Immigrants take over row houses, 2–3 families per house
Tenements—multifamily urban dwellings, are overcrowded, unsanitary
Transportation
Mass transit —move large numbers of people along fixed routes
By 20th century, transit systems link city to suburbs

39. URBAN LIVING CONDITIONS

40. URBAN LIVING CONDITIONS

41. Water Sanitation URBAN PROBLEMS
1860s cities have inadequate or no piped water, indoor plumbing rare
Filtration introduced 1870s, chlorination in 1908
Sanitation
Streets: manure, open gutters, factory smoke, poor trash collection
Contractors hired to sweep streets, collect garbage, clean outhouses often do not do job properly
By 1900, cities develop sewer lines, create sanitation departments

42. Crime Fire URBAN PROBLEMS As population grows, thieves flourish
Early police forces too small to be effective
Fire
Fire hazards: limited water, wood houses, candles, kerosene heaters
Most firefighters volunteers, not always available
1900, most cities have full-time, professional fire departments
Fire sprinklers, non-flammable building materials make cities safer

43. Cities provided opportunities
Machine-made jobs
high wages
ended monotony of the farm.
Cities

44. Job opportunities for Women
CITIES
Job opportunities for Women
School teaching
Domestic service
Women doctors
Lawyers, typists, telephone girls, librarians, journalists and social workers.
Women gainfully employed rose from 2.5 million in 1880 to 8 million in 1910.

45. Cities were attractive
with telephones
bright lights and electricity.
Central heating
public water systems
indoor plumbing
sewage disposal
asphalt pavements and transportation.
Cities

46. grafters (corrupt politicians)
CITIES
Cities had many faces
Slums
Criminals
Beggars
Pollution
bad smells
grafters (corrupt politicians)
Cities

47. Became the intellectual nerve center of the country.
CITIES
Cities offered beautiful parks, museums, libraries, churches, hospitals and schools.
Became the intellectual nerve center of the country.
Cities

49. URBANIZATION Chicago became the main railroad junction in the U.S.
Immigrants move to Chicago because of the job opportunities
Meatpacking
Steel mills
Cattle industry
Multi-cultural community

50. Would stay segregated in their ethnic neighborhoods.
Many American nativists disliked new immigrants because they would not assimilate into American society.
Would stay segregated in their ethnic neighborhoods.

56. The Charity Organization Movement The Settlement Movement
Kept detailed files on people who received their help
Decided who was worthy of help
Wanted immigrants to adopt American, middle-class standards.
Sought to apply the gospel teachings of Christ: charity and justice to society’s problems.
Moved into poor communities
Their settlement houses served as community centers and social service agencies.
Hull House, founded by Jane Addams a model settlement house in Chicago, offered cultural events, classes, childcare, employment assistance, and health-care clinics.
The Charity Organization Movement
The Social Gospel Movement
The Settlement Movement

57. The Settlement House Movement
URBAN PROBLEMS
The Settlement House Movement
• Social welfare reformers work to relieve urban poverty
• Social Gospel movement—preaches salvation through service to poor
• Settlement houses—community centers in slums, help immigrants
• Run by college-educated women, they:
- provide educational, cultural, social services
- send visiting nurses to the sick
- help with personal, job, financial problems
• Jane Addams founds Hull House with Ellen Gates Starr in 1889